Digital Marketing Career Advice for Students at CCE

Beginning a career is never easy. How do you get your foot in the door? Where should you apply for jobs? How do you make yourself stand out? Whether you’re just beginning to consider a career in digital marketing or you’re about to complete your certificate program, it’s hard to put yourself out there. So how do you begin? Start with this digital marketing career advice.

Digital Marketing Career Advice

Get Experience

If you don’t know how to market, you’re going to have a tough time selling yourself to potential employers. After all, most employers are looking to hire people who have marketing experience. In fact, the demand for digital marketing skills has doubled since 2011, so it’s important to be able to prove your skills with real world experience. This can be tricky: how can you get experience if you can’t get hired?

There are lots of ways to get digital marketing experience, but the best way to show you know your stuff is to get educated. An online certificate in digital marketing will teach you the skills you need to succeed in the profession. It will also prove to prospective employers that you know what you’re doing and you’re serious about the field. If you’re already enrolled in a certificate program, good job! If not, this is the first and most important step to success.

Show What You Know

If you’re applying for digital marketing positions, be prepared for potential employers to look for you online. You should have a good online presence – and you should be marketing yourself. Start building your brand by taking on personal projects, blogging, and being active (and respectable) on social media. After all, if you’re going to market for clients, you need to know how to do it for yourself first.

Look for the Right Fit

It’s common for job seekers to take the first job offered to them, but we recommend you take some time to research your career options. Digital marketing is an incredibly varied career field because every industry needs marketers. There are countless digital marketing career paths you can follow, so take some time to consider the right one for you.

What are your skills? Do you want a job where you can focus on your specialties, or a generalist position where you’ll do something different every day? Where do you want to work? Some digital marketers like working within a large corporation, while others prefer a small agency setting.

Be sure to consider your own personality and the culture of the companies you apply to. If you love collaboration but only apply to companies that emphasize individual work, you may not be happy. When you find your right fit, you’ll find yourself happy to go into work each day. Keep in mind that companies are looking for the right fit, too – they want to hire people who fit well within their organization.

Make a Good Impression

This is a good time to brush up on your interview skills. No, this isn’t specific to digital marketing, but it’s important if you want to make a good impression. Research the company, dress to impress, and follow up with a thank you note after the interview. This is just an idea of the types of things you’ll want to consider. Before you interview, take the time to review important interview tips.

Never Stop Learning

When you’ve gone through the research, applications, and interviews, and you finally land a job, it’s easy to get complacent. But just because you get a job doesn’t mean you’re suddenly done learning about digital marketing. You’ve learned the basics, but now is the time to hone your skills and work toward being the best digital marketer you can be.

Subscribe to digital marketing blogs and read them. Stay up to date on the newest trends – or you’ll quickly be left behind. Take the “dabble in everything, specialize in something” approach. Yes, you may be a marketing generalist, but what is your specialty? More importantly, how can you continue to develop your special skills? Continuing to learn about digital marketing will make you more valuable to your current and future employers.

The First Step to a Rewarding Career

The best way to begin your digital marketing career is with a certificate of digital marketing. If you’re not already enrolled in a certificate program, this should be your first step. Earning your certificate will help you to gain some necessary experience, provide you with the education you need to develop digital marketing skills, and will show potential employers that you are serious about digital marketing. It all begins with getting certified.

Want to learn more about a career in digital marketing? Get your free guide to learn more about the job market, education requirements, and more.